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MEDIA
LESS PEOPLE = LESS CRIME:
Statistics from university police department indicate a notable drop in the number of campus crimes in 2020.
EMILY BEAMAN REPORTER
Every year, the Police Department conducts a Security and Fire Safety Report comprised of data collected from January to October of that year. The newest report, released in Dec. 2020, includes the statistics from the years 2017, 2018 and 2019. Compared to previous years, there was a significant drop in the number of crimes that were committed on campus. The two categories with the highest amount of reports were assaults and burglaries.
“The primary location for offenses are, unfortunately, originating out of our residence halls,” MSU Police Chief Patrick Coggins said.
MSU’s campus is able to house up to 1,768 students. According to Kristi Schulte, the Director for Residence Life and Housing, the 2019-2020 academic year had approximately 1,600 students living in campus housing. When campus opened for the fall semester of 2020, the number of students living on campus decreased to around 1,500. The drop in on-campus residents could be due to the COVID-19 pandemic and shutdown Schulte suggested.
“We closed housing in March, and housing was only open to students who had very specific circumstances,” Schulte said.
The only students allowed to remain on campus during the shutdown were international students, those classified as homeless, those considered independent on financial aid and those who presented a safety concern about leaving campus.
“We went from 1,500 students on campus to fewer than 200,” Schulte said, “and we saw even smaller numbers in the summer semester.”
Laura Hetrick, Title IX director and coordinator, reached the same conclusion as to why crime dropped.
“I think a part of [the decrease in crime] was because so many people went home at spring break and did not return,” Hetrick said.
On the other hand, Coggins believes that an
PHOTO BY A.J. RUBIO | THE WICHITAN
absence of students on campus could possibly be a reason to see an increase in crime.
“When you begin to reduce the number of people around, there’s less to be seen, less people seeing… People can take advantage of a lesser number of people around,” Coggins said.
Campus organizations, such as the Title IX Department, have also taken steps over the last year to attempt to decrease crime on campus. Some examples of presentations by the department in 2020 were Bystander Intervention, Consent, What A Healthy Relationship Looks Like, Stalker Awareness and Self Protection. These would be given to anyone anywhere on campus. Mainly set up in residence halls or the
LESS PEOPLE = LESS CRIME:
campus for crime prevention. prevented by the student and campus commu- when taking into account population and time“We’ve been making an ef- nity. frame in both data sets. As the year progressed fort to present a Crime Prevention Program to hall residents, RAs or anybody who’s inter“When we have students that are alert and aware about who is supposed to be there and feel comfortable enough to speak up when and provisions to protect against the Corona virus eased, the Wichita Falls Police Depart ested,” Coggins said. something is out of place, we really seem to ment continued to see a drop in certain areas The program is an hour- have a more successful approach to safety and of crime, like burglary, and a rise in others, like long presentation on crime security,” Schulte said. domestic offenses. MSU saw a similar trend in prevention tips to lessen the likelihood of somebody becoming a victim. Some of the tips However, campus administration recognizes that students could struggle with coming forward to report offenses. reports, with a drop in burglary, but a decrease with domestic reports and an increase in stalkthey give are finding strength “[There’s] definitely an element of under- ing, sexual harassment and assault offenses. in numbers, not hanging out reporting, especially where students don’t see “We’ve had an abnormal year with a dip [in with people you don’t know too well and how to trust your instincts and get out of a situation before it escalates. them as that big of a deal or there’s an element of embarrassment,” Schulte said. “With those smaller things, students feel they don’t want to bother anyone or know that they can or should crime] across the board that began in March and April,” Wichita Falls Police Department Intel Officer John Cook said. The police patrols have also report those things.” While MSU’s crime was proportional to increased over the last year. Coggins said there are officers on frequent patrols around campus, being highly visible by walking through halls and buildings during the heaviest population times. “Having that presence is always a deterrence to crime,” Coggins said. “It helps people feel reassured about their safety. They aren’t walking out there to bust students; we want to create a relationship between the police and the Hetrick thinks the solution lies within the programs and presentations being presented around campus by the various departments. The informational programs the Police Department and Title IX are implementing around campus have an element of destigmatizing the potential embarrassment of coming forward or thinking an offense is too small to speak up about. “[We] want [these programs] to help make students feel comfortable reporting,” Hetrick said. Compared to the crime rate of the town of Wichita Falls, MSU’s reports were proportional Wichita Falls, when compared to other Texas campuses of similar size, they have higher rates. The University of Texas Permian Basin, which has a student population of 7,628, reported 43 total crimes and Texas A&M University at San Antonio, which has a student population of 5,511, reported 47 total crimes. In comparison. MSU has a student population of 6,102 and had a total of 88 reported crimes. However, until the 2020 data set for crime across these campuses is fully released, a true comparison among them cannot be made. community - a positive relationship - and [we] want people to feel safe where they are.” Because of limited department and campus resources, like the number of officers able to be employed and put out on campus, the MSUPD will not likely increase their PHOTO BY BRIDGET REILLY | THE WICHITAN presence over the next year Emergency poles are stationed across campus for stu- but are hopeful to see a steady dents to contact the police if they feel in danger. continuance or drop in crime rates. Student Center, any students were welcome to “I’d like to think a couple attend and gather information over the topics of reasons crime has decreased is because at these presentations. our program may have made a difference in
“[The Title IX Department] has a different people’s actions that may have lessened the opprogram every month that we try to correspond portunity for crime to occur,” Coggins said, “as with the awareness topic for that month,” Het- well as our patrol efforts and community policrick said. ing style.”
Residence Life and Housing also increased The reports, in conjunction with the their precautions in 2020 by changing their MSUPD’s deductions, show that a majority of visitation policy. Per resident, only one guest is cases indicated there was no force, which has allowed at a time, and they must sign in at the led campus figures, like Coggins and Schulte, front desk to keep track of who and how many to believe that most campus crimes are crimes people go in and out of the halls. The MSUPD of opportunity. However, they also believe also ramped up their presence and efforts on many of these crimes and offenses can be best
CAMPUS CRIME RATIOS FOR UNIVERSITY OF PERMIAN TEXAS BASIN, TEXAS A&M UNIVESITY AT SAN ANTONIO AND MSU TEXAS (2020)
